Futureproofing Canada

A snapshot of precarious work in Canada today, a Policy Options podcast. The nature of work in Canada is changing. With the onset of the so-called "fourth industrial revolution” careers are becoming a patchwork of impermanent contracts and “gigs,” which often do not come with the benefits associated with long-term employment. Canada’s social architecture, including employment insurance, may no lon...

The role of online bots in electoral politics, a Policy Options podcast. Online bots scan social media sites and then send out automatic messages to users. Political parties use them to get their messages out. So they have the power to shape public opinion, and they can even have an impact on elections. Fenwick McKelvey from Concordia University and Elizabeth Dubois from University of Ottawa recen...

Put The Peace Back Into UN Peacekeeping Operations, a Policy Options podcast. Canada is rethinking the way it contributes to United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world. The federal government promised boots on the ground more than a year ago, and it has yet to deliver. But is that really where Canada should focus its efforts? Our host, journalist and McGill University law student Ryan H...

Walking The Talk On International Development Assistance, a Policy Options podcast. When Justin Trudeau’s government took office, one of the Prime Minister’s messages overseas was "Canada's back," which referred to Canada's perceived lack of leadership on the world stage under the previous, Conservative, government. Now that the Liberals are halfway through their mandate, it’s a good time to refle...

Far-right extremist groups have long flown under the law enforcement and policy-making radar, but the events of the past year have made them impossible to ignore. The violent demonstrations of white supremacists and nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the planned protests by the anti-immigrant group La Meute in Quebec City this summer are just two examples of the alarming rise of far-ri...

The Naylor Report under the microscope, a Policy Options Podcast. Does Canada spend enough on fundamental, independent research at our universities? When funding is awarded to our scholars and scientists, is it done fairly? These are two of the central questions addressed by the report of Canada’s Fundamental Science Review, or the Naylor Report. The report came out in April, but many in the resea...

What to make of the INAC split?, a Policy Options Podcast. It is not often that the name of a department grabs the headlines in a cabinet shuffle, but that’s what happened when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he was cleaving Indian and Northern Affairs Canada into two separate entities. The move comes two decades after the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples made this recommendation in...

Securing the best NAFTA deal possible for Canada, a Policy Options Podcast. In advance of the first round of NAFTA negotiations, officials from Canada, the United States, and Mexico all laid out their trade policy goals to their respective citizens. Achieving those goals will be easier said than done, and will require careful strategizing, compromise, and assertiveness on the part of each delegati...

Supporting academic freedom globally, a Policy Options Podcast. In 2016, Concordia University anthropology professor Homa Hoodfar was arrested in Iran while conducting research on feminism and security matters. During her 112 days in prison, Hoodfar reflected on the state of academic freedom and the factors that continue to lead to the imprisonment and abuse of her colleagues globally. In a speech...

Canadian copyright policy is so 2012, a Policy Options podcast. After a lengthy consultation process, in 2012 Stephen Harper’s government passed a legislative overhaul of the Copyright Act. Titled the Copyright Modernization Act, it addressed many of the issues in the copyright regime that had plagued both creators and users. With the mandated five-year review of the Act fast approaching, stakehol...

The real impact of the pension reform plan, a Policy Options podcast. In June of 2016, the Liberal government announced reforms to Canada’s retirement income system. At the heart of the plan was a commitment to increase the benefits provided by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). While this might seem like an unquestionable win for Canadians’ chequebooks, a new IRPP study finds that Canadians are not l...

Empowering women entrepreneurs globally, a Policy Options podcast. The burden of poverty is not shared equally. In most developing nations, low-income women experience unique barriers that hinder their ability to lift themselves out of poverty. These include discriminatory public policies and cultural biases, which prevent them from accumulating enough assets to start a business. In her chapter in...

Andrew Scheer and Conservative policy, a Policy Options podcast. The Conservative leadership race is over, and the contestants who pushed the envelope with more provocative policy ideas didn’t make the cut. They included Michael Chong, with his support for carbon taxes, Maxime Bernier, with his call to end supply management, and Kellie Leitch, who pushed for a “values” test for new Canadians. Inst...

Canadian trade policy at a risky crossroads, a Policy Options podcast. Rising economic anxieties combined with challenges to the global multilateral trade framework has necessitated a re-evaluation of Canadian trade policies and priorities. What should the pillars of Canadian trade policy look like going forward? In the IRPP’s new trade volume titled "Redesigning Canadian Trade Policies for New Gl...

Breaking down the French election, a Policy Options podcast. The runoff vote in France’s presidential election is less than a week away, in a campaign that has seen major political upheaval in the republic. The two parties that traditionally traded the keys to the Elysée Palace, the Republicans and the Socialist Party, have been sidelined in favour of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, two disrupt...

How the NDP's past can help the party today, a Policy Options podcast. A new leader isn’t the only thing that the federal NDP is searching for, in the wake of its third-place finish in the 2015 general election. The party is also grappling with existential questions around its core political philosophy. In a recent Policy Options article, historian Kenneth C. Dewar argued that the policy debates o...

Where will automation lead us? A Policy Options podcast. It’s hard to measure the effect that automation will have on the Canadian economy. Advances in technology will not only make certain jobs obsolete, they may well change the very nature of some industries, as well as industries related to them. David Ticoll (senior fellow at the Innovation Policy Lab at University of Toronto’s Munk School of...

Budget 2017 analysis live from the lockup, a Policy Options podcast. What were the highlights of the new federal budget? IRPP's Jennifer Ditchburn, Joanne Castonguay, Stephen Tapp, and Alex Shadeed weigh in from the budget lockup. Download for free. New episodes every second Tuesday.

Canada's suburbs are no place to grow old, a Policy Options Podcast. Canada’s suburbs do not meet the needs of our aging population. The phenomenon of urban sprawl make driving a must, which isn’t an option for many seniors with limited mobility. According to the statistics, one in four Canadians will be 65 years old or older by 2041, so we need to ask: what would a move toward age-friendly commun...

Countering violent extremism in Canada, a Policy Options Podcast. In its 2016 Public Report On The Terrorist Threat To Canada, Public Safety Canada said domestic, violent extremists who could be inspired to carry out an attack are the nation’s principal terrorist threat. This comes as terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State show they are still able to use the Internet ver...

Improving Canada's sanctions legislation, a Policy Options Podcast. With the "Magnitsky law" now in effect in the United States, many have speculated that Canada might adopt similar legislation that would facilitate the application of sanctions on individuals and countries who commit grave human rights violations. How should Canada proceed? Andrea Charron, director of the Centre for Security, Inte...

Indigenous representation in the media, a Policy Options Podcast. How can we ensure that Indigenous issues are being covered regularly in the media and with sensitivity? Duncan McCue is the creator and curator of the website “Reporting in Indigenous Communities,” and he hosts CBC Radio One’s Cross Country Checkup. He stopped by the podcast to share his insights on the topic. Download for Free. New...

Journalism and truth in the Trump era, a Policy Options Podcast. As Donald Trump moves into the White House, the American news media is scrambling to get its own house in order. How do they cover a president who is overtly hostile to reporters, and is moving to curtail their access? How does the media connect with a distrustful public, especially when there are powerful voices telling citizens to...

Federalism and climate change, a Policy Options Podcast. The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change is the largest intergovernmental project to combat climate change in Canada’s history. Meeting the goals laid out in the framework will depend on effective coordination among Ottawa, the provinces, and the territories in their climate change mitigation efforts. However, this will ...

Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, a Policy Options Podcast. The reconciliation agenda has made progress since the 1970s, but there’s still much work to be done. A legacy of loss and dispossession has left a sizable gap in the life conditions and self-determination for Indigenous Peoples, which has yet to be closed. How should Canada and Indigenous peoples move forward on reconciliation?  Dav...